Is Sling TV Worth $20 a Month?

>What's one of your biggest monthly expenses? After housing and a car payment, chances are it's probably your cable and internet package.

For us, after housing and daycare, the next largest expense is our monthly payment to Verizon for our Fios Internet and cable. So it would make sense that if you want to try to save money, you start there first.

What is SlingTV?

Sling TV is a streaming video television service that gives you 31 channels for just $20 a month. You can use it to stream to your wi-fi enabled television or any other device and use it as a replacement for your more expensive cable TV package. (full channel listings below)

It's such a simple idea — cable TV over the internet at a fraction of the cost. No contract, no activation fee, and a 7-day free trial to see if it's for you.

If you're wondering how they can do this, SlingTV is a subsidiary of Dish Network.

Dish Network tested an internet TV service back in 2012 and named it DishWorld. It was available through Roku devices. In the years since, after signing carriage deals with numerous networks, renamed Sling in January 2015 and put under the leadership of CEO Roger Lynch, who was the executive vice president of advanced technologies for Dish Network.

I have to admit, their cable spots are funny:

Danny Trejos is The Man!

SlingTV Channel Packages

There are a LOT of channels – and this is just a sampling!

The Sling Orange service is a single stream, you can only view it on one device at a time. The Sling Blue service is multistream, you can view it on up to three devices at one time.

SlingTV has three core packages (price is per month, channel list updated 9/28/17):

Finally, you have a litany of international and Spanish language channels too that you can add on. They have practically everything.

Where Can You Watch It?

Practically anywhere with an internet connection. It works on Apple TV, iOS, Roku, Amazon FireTV, Chromecast, XBox, Android, and your computer via apps. One notable exclusion is the PlayStation console, I suspect that's because SlingTV competes with PlayStation Vue.

To watch on your TV, it needs internet capability. If you can watch things like Netflix on it now, it has internet capability.

If you don't know or you are certain it doesn't have internet capability, you can solve that easily by picking up a Roku Streaming Stick. It's a stick that plugs into your TV's HDMI port and gives you the capability to view Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc.

Is it for you?

Many cable packages brag about how you can get hundreds of channels, but how many do you actually watch?

I kept a time journal one week and discovered that outside of basic cable, I only watched three channels: ESPN, History, and Discovery. I only watch ESPN for live sports and History/Discovery were when I was bored and channel surfing. We watch no “appointment TV,” which is when you set aside time to watch a show live.

That meant 99% of our television watching was basic cable or something off Netflix or Amazon Prime video.

In essence, I'm paying $85 a month for ESPN. That's crazy.

If you have TV watching habits like me, you need to give their 7-day trial a shot. Or you should just cancel cable and see if you even notice!

Besides illegal streaming, SlingTV is easily one of the best alternatives to cable television service. 🙂

For a limited time, Sling TV will give you a free Roku streaming stick (retails for $39.99) when you sign up for a month of Sling TV. This turns any TV with an HDMI port into a TV that can run Sling and other internet services (Netflix, Amazon, etc.)

Best part, you can give it a whirl for free for 7 days. I know lots of people who tried it, while keeping their cable, just to see. Some of them decided they preferred cable. Many realized their TV watching habits didn't justify paying for cable.

Are there downsides?

You don't get your local channels unless you're in select markets. If you want those, you'll need to include an over the air antenna. Those are dirt cheap on Amazon, it's just a matter of finding a good place to put it.

On the Orange plan, you can only watch on one device. Blue lets you watch on up to 3 simultaneous devices.

If your entertainment setup is powered by a Playstation, Sling doesn't yet work on the Playstation. It probably won't work on it for a while because Playstation has their own competing service called Playstation Vue.

Lastly, there is a Cloud DVR extra ($5/mo) where you can record your shows and watch them later. You can record up to 50 hours of movies, TV, and more.

SlingTV Promotions

SlingTV always has a 7-day free trial – it's a good way to find out if Sling TV is going to work for you. Some people have had trouble with the streaming because they needed faster internet, you should consider that in any cost analysis. Sometimes you realize there are shows on other networks that aren't on Sling TV. A week to try it out gives you a good sense of your usage, especially if you don't feel like keeping a log like I did.

Otherwise, you can get one of three devices if you prepay a few months:

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About Jim Wang

Jim Wang is a thirty-something father of two who has been featured in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Entrepreneur, and Marketplace Money.

He can show you the philosophies, tools, strategies and methods he used to become financially independent and free to pursue what was important.

One of his favorite tools is Personal Capital, which enables him to manage his finances in just 15-minutes each month. They also offer financial planning, such as a Retirement Planning Tool that can tell you if you're on track to retire when you want. It's free.

He is also diversifying his investment portfolio by adding a little bit of real estate. But not rental homes, because he doesn't want a second job, it's diversified small investments in a mix of properties through RealtyShares (Fundrise if you're not an accredited investor). Worth a look and he's already made investments that have performed according to plan.

Disclaimer

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